[ClearCase_guy]

This is ridiculous. The presence of blacks in the CSA is well established. They weren’t drafted, and they were not terribly numerous, but there is no question that some fought for the South.

[DanielRedfoot]

No doubt;

The sad fact is, the majority of blacks are fighting (voting) for their own slavery today.

[rockvillem]

there is no question that some fought for the South

This. Was doing some research this morning after this story broke, and it seems clear that there really can't be much dispute about this. The number of blacks, what service they rendered (e.g., how many actually fought in combat versus supporting roles), the degree of real or implied compulsion, etc. are all in dispute, but there is contemporaneous evidence of some fighting. I had no idea just what a political football this was.

[Sherman Logan]

Excellent post.

Those who want to believe the CSA Army was “integrated” really ought to read some of the debates in the Confederate Congress in early 1865 over whether blacks should be “officially” allowed into the army or not.

With the CSA collapsing around them and Richmond besieged, the Congresscritters still managed to work themselves up into a frenzy over the importance of maintaining white supremacy and the peculiar institution unimpaired.

When they did finally pass a law (February 1865?) allowing slaves into the army, with the owner’s permission, largely as a result of a plea to do so from RE Lee, they were still unable to bring themselves to explicitly guarantee freedom to the soldiers.